In a typical autoclave for the treatment of medical waste (e.g., Regulated Medical Waste), at least one access door is provided and may be opened to gain access to the sterilization chamber of the autoclave to permit loading of untreated medical waste into the sterilization chamber where the untreated medical waste may be treated and to permit unloading of treated medical waste from the sterilization chamber after treatment. A horizontally oriented autoclave may have an access door at one of its ends or both of its ends. When untreated medical waste is being treated in such an autoclave, the access door/doors is/are closed to seal off the sterilization chamber of the autoclave. Accordingly, each door is designed to handle the high pressures reached in the sterilization chamber during the autoclave treatment. Each such door typically is very heavy, and must be closed tightly during the autoclave treatment process to maintain proper pressure inside the sterilization chamber during the autoclave treatment process, and preferably is lockable in the closed position to prevent opening of the door while the sterilization chamber is under pressure.
Typically, such access doors are operated either hydraulically or manually. Hydraulically operated doors use pressure from a hydraulic pump to rotate door, ring or other mechanisms which are fitted with wedges, to create pressure between a fixed seal and opposing sealing surface. A drawback related to the use of hydraulically operated doors is the potential for leaks of hydraulic fluids into the environment. Further, the pressure wedges wear and are difficult to renew.
Manually operated doors operate similarly to hydraulically operated doors by forcing wedging members against fixed members, but rely on the operator to bring them into position with the appropriate sealing force.